Holly & Heather’s Helpful Hint: Distractions, Distractions

by helpinghandstwins

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who just wasn’t paying attention to you? Here you are, pouring your heart out, and when you are done there is silence on the other end of the conversation. This can feel more than frustrating. It is as if that person doesn’t care about you in that instant; as if what you are talking about has no value.

We’re sure many of you have had that experience as well, both as a talker and a listener. We all get distracted from time to time. While maybe the listener (or non-listener) may not have meant to hurt the feelings of the one who was sharing, distraction is often the culprit of these occasions. So what can we do about this?

In keeping with the theme of last week’s blog – stay present. When the phone rings, if you don’t have the time or energy to focus your attention on the speaker, don’t answer it. If you do answer and find yourself becoming distracted, which happens – especially if you have children at home, politely tell the speaker that you are sorry, this isn’t a good time to chat right now and then call them back when you are free. In this age of technology, it is nearly impossible to miss a call, text or email. Those messages will be there waiting for you. The human face or voice should always command our attention well before any piece of technology unless a true emergency arises.